Monitoring wind energy projects in Spain: an analysis of environmental consents and impacts on wildlife

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Introduction

The analysis of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) documents is a complex process due to the large volume, structural diversity, varied content, and project-specific nature of each case. The main objective of this study is the location, extraction, analysis and interpretation of information related to the monitoring of wind energy projects and their impacts on wildlife. The study analyzes the resolutions of wind energy projects issued in Spain between 2020 and 2025 by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITERD).

Materials and Methods

The methodology of this study is based on several key phases for the collection, analysis and structuring of data derived from EIAs. More than 3,000 documents related to the environmental permitting of renewable energy projects have been analyzed, and data extraction is ongoing to continuously update the statistical model with new projects.
Regarding wind farms, approximately 800 environmental resolutions have been assessed, of which more than 300, issued between 2020 and 2025 by the MITERD in Spain, are graphically represented in this study. This study forms part of the development of a doctoral thesis.
The parameters were extracted using internally developed supervised Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) tools, combining intensive manual tagging by specialized biodiversity staff at Ideas Medioambientales and the continuous refinement of advanced AI models, including Large Language Models (LLMs) for semantic and syntactic text processing.
This hybrid approach has enabled the optimization of large-scale information processing, structuring non-standardized and dispersed data found in complex technical documents.

The methodological phases established are as follows:

• Systematic access to and collection of documents through official web portals using programmatic scraping techniques.
• Filtering of documents to ensure the relevance and quality of the sample.
• Data extraction and analysis supported by advanced artificial intelligence processes, especially Large Language Models trained to interpret technical and regulatory content.
• Validation and qualitative review of results by the expert technical team.
• Statistical analysis of key parameters.

Results

The analysis of Environmental Impact Assessment resolutions between 2020 and 2025 reveals a significant evolution in the processing of wind farm projects in Spain, based on the proportion of favorable and unfavorable outcomes. In the early years of the period analyzed, most projects received positive resolutions. In 2022, although 72.0% of the resolutions were favorable, unfavorable decisions began to appear (28.6%). In 2023, the proportion of favorable resolutions decreased to 63.6%, while unfavorable ones increased to 35.1%. A more pronounced shift is observed in 2024 and 2025, with a clear predominance of unfavorable resolutions: 75.0% in 2024 and 85.7% in 2025. Favorable outcomes, in contrast, dropped to 8.3% and 14.3%, respectively. These trends may reflect a change in environmental assessment criteria or increasing technical and environmental complexity in the projects submitted in recent years.

Most species mentioned in EIAs published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) hold a conservation status of "vulnerable" or higher. The most affected faunal groups are raptors (36.2%), mammals (40.5%, mainly bats 39.5%) and steppe birds (16.3%), all of which are associated with moderate to severe environmental impacts.

Among birds of prey, the species most frequently linked to negative EIA resolutions issued by MITERD include the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Red kite (Milvus milvus), Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus). For steppe birds, the Lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni), Little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), and Black-bellied sandgrouse (Pterocles orientalis) are among the most affected. The main causes of negative rulings include habitat loss, disturbance of breeding or nesting areas, and collision risks with wind turbines or overhead power lines.
Although bats are responsible for a relatively low percentage of projects classified as critically impacted, they appear frequently in EIAs due to their sensitivity to direct impacts from wind energy infrastructures. Other mammals, such as the Brown bear (Ursus arctos) and the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus), are also involved in negative rulings due to habitat fragmentation and reduced ecological connectivity.

Conclusions

• Birds of prey, bats, and steppe birds are the species experiencing the highest number of critical impacts in wind energy projects.
• MITERD requires environmental monitoring plans in nearly all approved wind energy projects, including specific wildlife monitoring.
• Mortality monitoring is explicitly mandated in 82.6% of projects for wind turbines, but only in 58.2% for overhead power lines. Nonetheless, 95.7% of projects include some form of wildlife mortality monitoring, whether general or specific to turbines and/or power lines. The prescribed frequency for turbine inspections is typically weekly or biweekly, depending on regional guidelines set by each autonomous community. Notably, the use of detection dogs for carcass searches is specified in only 21.7% of projects.
• 98.5% of projects are subject to the Operational Protocol for Managing Conflictive Wind Turbines (Annex II).
• 93.4% of projects are subject to the Wind Turbine Shutdown Protocol for Bats.

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